OFF PAGE ONE
STANFIELD: McBride claims he was
¿red Ior reporting on Toombs’ behavior
Page 14A
East Oregonian
Continued from 1A
oI -ustice personnel investigating allegations
oI misconduct. /arsen said he became aware
oI the justice department investigation on
Nov. 16 but would not comment until the
investigation was complete and all the Iacts
were known.
“There’s basically one party talking in this
situation, and it’s not us,´ he said. “:e can’t
spread inIormation without going through
due process through the
investigation. I would
ask that everybody
withhold judgment and
wait until the real inves-
tigation determines what
actually happened.´
McBride claims he
was ¿red in retaliation
Ior reporting to =umwalt
unethical and criminal
behavior by Toombs, McBride
according to the Nov. 17
letter Irom McBride’s attorney to =umwalt
and Mayor Thomas McCann.
The letter states that in August 2015
McBride told =umwalt that Toombs had
seized at least two marijuana plants during
an investigation and did not properly log
the plants into evidence and that there was a
possibility he took the plants Ior personal use.
The letter also states that earlier in 2015
McBride reported to =umwalt that he had
inIormation Toombs was approaching
married couples in the Stan¿eld and Echo
area and soliciting them to engage in sexual
acts with Toombs and his wiIe. McBride was
concerned the behavior was in violation oI
Stan¿eld personnel policies and a criminal
violation Ior oI¿cial misconduct.
McBride alleges in the letter that =umwalt
did not investigate Toombs and instead
terminated McBride’s employment.
The Oregonian reported that it had
obtained documents alleging that =umwalt
seized a revolver during a traI¿c stop but did
not enter it into evidence. The newspaper
also reported obtaining a document the
remaining active-duty Stan¿eld oI¿cer,
'aniel PoIIenberger, submitted to the
'epartment oI -ustice. In that document,
PoIIenberger alleges ² among other
things ² that Toombs, while oII duty,
“For emergencies, we’re
always covered. We have
mutual aid agreements (with
other local agencies).”
— Blair Larsen, Stanfield City Manager
had demanded his neighbor be arrested by
PoIIenberger, who did not believe it was
warranted, and that Toombs reIused to put
out a ¿re on his property aIter being advised
it was in violation oI a burn ban, according
to The Oregonian.
The 'epartment oI -ustice denied the
East Oregonian’s public records reTuest Ior
the documents because oI an open criminal
investigation.
/arsen said, despite having only one
Iull-time oI¿cer on duty, the city will still be
protected during an emergency.
“For emergencies, we’re always
covered,´ he said. “:e have mutual aid
agreements with other local agencies.´
/arsen said he also inIormed +ermiston
Police Department and the Umatilla County
SheriII’s OI¿ce about Stan¿eld’s lack oI
staI¿ng. SheriII Terry 5owan said the oI¿ce
would assist Stan¿eld when necessary.
“Their oI¿cer that is working there will
be handling most incidents, but we’ll be
there in the event oI an emergency or iI
their oI¿cer needs backup or whatever the
case may be,´ he said. “Don’t get me wrong,
we’re going to be strapped, and it may create
a delay in response to the more lower-level-
type events like cold cases and things like
that, but in emergency situations, we’ll be
able to respond like normal.´
-ack +uxoll, a Stan¿eld City Council
member who is on the police committee,
said Mayor McCann has law enIorcement
experience, so the town should have enough
police presence. McCann retired as Stan-
¿eld’s police chieI in 12.
+uxoll said, however, that he knew very
little about the investigation into the oI¿cers.
“I’m in the dark just like everybody
else,´ he said. “Even though I co-chaired the
police committee, no inkling ever came out
oI anything.´
Toombs did not respond to a reTuest Ior
comment and =umwalt could not be reached.
BROWNING: Could reduce time with good behavior
Continued from 1A
Empire, an all-white gang
that operated in Pendleton
until police took it down
starting in late 2014.
Brauer
sentenced
Browning to ¿ve years Ior
the attempted assault, two
years and 11 months Ior the
gun crime and more than
seven years Ior racketeering.
Some oI the time is concur-
rent and some consecutive
Ior a total sentence oI seven
years, 11 months.
Brauer held to the
sentence recommendation
the state and deIense agreed
to and said Browning could
Saturday, November 21, 2015
reduce the time with good
behavior. Browning also
will spend three to ¿ve years
on supervision aIter prison.
BeIore pronouncing the
sentence, the judge gave
Browning the opportunity to
make a statement.
³,
am
remorseIul,´
he said, his wiIe and son
watching Irom the court-
room benches. “I am sorry
Ior the things I did. ... I made
some mistakes. I was part
oI things that made some
damage. I¶m sorry Ior those
actions.´
Browning
dropped
his head, stiÀed tears and
told the court other gang
members tried to shoot him
through his door when his
son was a mere Ieet away.
“Because
oI
that,´
Browning said, “I’ll never
Iorgive myselI.´
Brauer recalled when
Browning introduced his
son at an earlier hearing, and
he said to the boy sometimes
good people go oII track and
need help to get their lives
going in the right direction.
Browning thanked the judge
Ior the sentiment, and said
he was there to be account-
able.
Brauer said in that way
he was showing his son how
to be responsible.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Kindergartners gesture while reciting a poem before the start of their
Friendsgiving Feast on Friday at the Pendleton Early Learning Center.
FEAST: 50 middle schoolers volunteered
Continued from 1A
teachers to treat the Ieast as
an inIormal lunch, but the
school district’s contract with
the Iood services corporation
Sodexo meant lunchtime
had to proceed as scheduled.
Sokoloski and the other
early learning center staII
brainstormed and came up
with a workaround ² a
school-wide Ieast scheduled
during the student’s snack
time.
“It’s a pretty Iancy snack
today,´ she said. “Usually, its
just a couple oI crackers.´
Parents
contributed
supplies and the children
helped make the Iood, but
there were other logistical
challenges to wrangle with.
Although the center has
been praised Ior its spacious
design, the circular tables
in the caIeteria could only
seat 128, a problem solved
by switching them out with
longer, rectangular tables.
The Friendsgiving Feast
was also only the second
time over the course oI the
year that the entire student
body would be in the same
room, reTuiring careIul
coordination Irom staII and
volunteers. Parents and staII
members were aided by
50 students Irom Sunridge
Middle
School,
who
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Sunridge Middle School leadership student
prepare plates of food for a Friendsgiving Feast for
kindergartners at the Pendleton Early Learning
Center on Friday in Pendleton.
volunteered at the event as
a part oI 5andy CrawIord’s
leadership class.
CrawIord said he sought
out volunteer opportunities
Ior his students to teach
them the value oI being role
models and to remind them
oI the beginning oI their
educational journey.
“They Iorget what it’s
like to be here,´ he said.
The middle school
students took CrawIord’s
assignment with aplomb,
dutiIully taking care oI the
preparatory tasks beIore
playing with the kindergart-
ners during their recess.
The Sunridge students
bonded with their younger
counterparts quickly, so
much so that it seemed they
had been mentoring them Ior
more than an aIternoon.
At one point, a Sunridge
student asked iI they could
take a sel¿e with their new
kindergarten “buddies,´ a
request Sokoloski politely
declined.
Despite the Iast-paced
organizing that went into
the eIIort, Sokoloski told
volunteers she was already
planning next year’s event
beIore the ¿rst Ieast was
over.
²²²
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
Get ready for
Winter with
great savings
on AWD &
4WD Toyotas!
Convicted spy released aIter 30 years behind bars
NE:
<O5.
AP
² -onathan Pollard was
released Irom prison Friday
aIter 0 years behind bars
Ior spying Ior Israel, and his
lawyers immediately went
to court to challenge tough
parole conditions seemingly
designed to ensure he doesn’t
spill any U.S. military secrets
he might have leIt.
The 61-year-old Iormer
Navy intelligence analyst was
set Iree in the middle oI the
night Irom a medium-secu-
rity Iederal prison in Butner,
North Carolina, aIter being
paroled Irom a liIe sentence
that had turned him into a
continual source oI tension
between the U.S. and Israel.
Under the rules oI his
release, he must wear a GPS
unit to transmit his where-
abouts at all times, allow the
installation oI monitoring
equipment on any computers
he uses at work or at home,
and agree to periodic, unan-
nounced inspections oI those
machines.
“The notion that, having
Iought Ior and ¿nally
obtained his release aIter
serving 30 years in prison,
Mr. Pollard will now disclose
stale, 30-year-old inIormation
to anyone is preposterous,´
his lawyers, Eliot /auer and
-acques Semmelman, said in
a statement.
+ours aIter his release,
Pollard checked in with
probation oI¿cers at a Iederal
courthouse in New <ork, then
emerged into a throng oI jour-
nalists. +e wore a yarmulke.
“I can’t comment on
anything today,´ he said, his
wiIe, Esther, on his arm.
Despite parole require-
ments that he not leave the
U.S. without government
permission Ior the next ¿ve
years, Pollard has expressed a
desire to renounce his Amer-
ican citizenship and move to
Israel, where he is
seen by some as a
national hero. The
:hite +ouse has
come out against
the request.
U.S. intelligence
oI¿cials have long
argued that Pollard,
who
pleaded
guilty in 186 Pollard
to conspiracy to
commit espionage, did severe
damage to the United States
during the Cold :ar by giving
away an enormous volume oI
military intelligence secrets
that some suspect wound up
in Soviet hands.
+is
deIenders
have
contended that his punish-
ment was overly harsh Ior
helping a close U.S. ally.
The prosecutor who
handled the case, Iormer U.S.
Attorney -oseph diGenova,
said it is legitimate Ior the
government to be concerned
that Pollard might still have
secrets to tell.
“Anyone who obtained
as much inIormation as Mr.
Pollard did over an extended
period oI time is perIectly
capable oI revealing ...
inIormation that he might
have in his brain locked away
somewhere,´ he said. “It is
perIectly understandable that
the government would want
to do those types oI examina-
tions oI computers and other
Enjoy the
Jazz sounds of
Brass Fire
Sat., Nov. 21 2015
7 pm - 10 pm
In the Red Lion Lounge
304 SE Nye
Pendleton
541-276-6111
devices.´
Pollard’s
lawyers submitted
a statement Irom
Iormer
U.S.
national security
adviser
5obert
McFarlane
dismissing
such
Iears. “To the extent
Mr. Pollard even
recalls any clas-
si¿ed inIormation, it would
date back 30 years or more,
and would have no value to
anyone today,´ he said.
.enneth /asson, a law
proIessor at the University
oI Baltimore who supported
Pollard’s bid to have his
sentence shortened, said
the GPS monitoring and
computer inspections amount
to “vindictiveness by a petty-
minded government.´ +e
said the U.S. should grant
Pollard’s request to leave the
country.
“:hat they are aIraid oI"´
he asked. “I think what they
are aIraid oI is that he’s going
to be received as a hero by the
Israeli public.´
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu
applauded Pollard’s Ireedom,
saying in a statement:
“As someone who raised
-onathan’s case Ior years
with successive American
presidents, I had long hoped
this day would come.´
2016 TUNDRA
Standard Cab, Double Cab, CrewMax
%
1.9
APR for
60 Mo.
Ask about Special Offers on all Toyota
4 Wheel and All Wheel Drives.
%
0
2015 RAV4
APR for
60 Mo.
or $ 1000 Cash Back!
Every new Toyota comes with
ToyotaOfHermiston.com
(541) 567-6461 or 800-522-2308
Mon-Fri 8:30a-6:30p • Sat 9:00a-6:00p • Sun 10:30a - 5:30p
ToyotaCare covers normal factory scheduled service. Plan is 2 years or 25K miles, whichever comes first. The new vehicle cannot be part of a rental or commercial fleet,
or a livery/taxi vehicle. See participating Toyota dealer for plan details. Valid only in the continental U.S. and Alaska. Roadside assistance does not include parts and fluids,
except emergency fuel delivery. Get 0% APR for 60 months on the new 2015 RAV4 (excludes Hybrid) or 1.9% APR for 60 months on the New 2016 Tundra (excludes TRD
Pro). Offer available to eligible customers who finance a new, unused, or unlicensed 2015 RAV4 or 2016 Tundra from Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. (TMS) and Toyota
Financial Services (TFS) 11/3/15 through 11/30/15. A negotiable documentary service fee in an amount up to $150 may be added to the vehicle price. Vehicle ID numbers
available upon request. Specific vehicles are subject to availability. You must take retail delivery from dealer stock. Special APR may not be combined with any other
Customer Cash Rebates, Bonus Cash Rebates, or Lease Offers. Finance programs available on credit approval. Not all buyers will qualify for financing from Toyota
Financial Services through participating dealers. Monthly payment for every $1,000 financed is 0% - 60 months = $16.67; 1.9% - 60 months = 17.48. See your Toyota
dealer for actual pricing, annual percentage rate (APR), monthly payment, and other terms and special offers. Pricing and terms of any finance or lease transaction will
be agreed upon by you and your dealer. Special offers are subject to change or termination at any time. Up to $1,000 Customer Cash Back available on a New 2015 RAV4
(excludes Hybrid) 11/3/15-11/30/15. Cannot be combined and is subject to availability. A negotiable documentary service fee in an amount up to $150 may be added to
the vehicle price. Cash back from Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. Varies by region. Does not include College Grad or Military Rebate.